15 - The Renaissance of fungi and ancient fermentation process in the food tech industry. Interview with founder and CEO of Bosque Foods, Isabella Iglesias-Musachio

SustainNOW Podcast - Learn from entrepreneurs & scientists about climate solutions

In todays episode, I am speaking with Isabella, Founder and CEO of Bosque Foods. Their mission is to create the best tasting and minimally processed, whole-cut meat and fish alternatives grown naturally from fungal mycelium.

Isabella has an academic background in sustainability and agriculture. She has spent her career building startups in the United States, Europe, and Asia. She has a proven track record in leading tech startups to scale internationally, most recently for ag-tech startup Infarm. She brings her passion for sustainability, decade-long experience in fermentation, and experience in business management and strategy to lead Bosque Foods as CEO.
We are speaking about the ancient fermentation process, originally used for wine and beer and its renaissance in the food-tech industry, why fungi can be the hidden champion in creating clean and less processed meat alternatives. You will also learn about the chances and obstacles in scaling a mycelium food-tech business in the current macroeconomic climate.
Please check out show notes and background information: www.sustainnow.ch
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Kapitel

1. 15 - The Renaissance of fungi and ancient fermentation process in the food tech industry. Interview with founder and CEO of Bosque Foods, Isabella Iglesias-Musachio (00:00:00)

2. Could you please introduce yourself in a few sentences? (00:02:03)

3. Do you remember a moment that this was a space you wanted to get into? (00:03:04)

4. Why were you at university at the age of 16? (00:04:17)

5. Would you mind sharing more on what the "Omnivore's Dilemma" is about? (00:04:40)

6. Why do you think equality makes the world more sustainable? (00:05:48)

7. Can you explain what fermentation is, why are people so excited about this old fermentation process? (00:07:50)

8. What is the difference between between liquids and solids? (00:10:08)

9. Could you explain what exactly mycelium is? (00:14:38)

10. What is the production process? How do you get your final product to taste something like a chicken product? (00:17:22)

11. When does the fermentation process come in? (00:19:41)

12. What is the nutritional level compared to meat or other alternatives? (00:20:04)

13. How will you make sure you will flavour it in a way people will enjoy it? (00:22:12)

14. Have you tried it already? (00:23:43)

15. Which market will you go to first? (00:24:43)

16. How do you judge the newest FDA approval? (00:25:34)

17. Aside from regulations, what are other challenging obstacles? (00:26:57)

18. How do you tackle the scaling problem? (00:28:51)

19. Do you see an impact on your industry or on yourself about the changing investor environment? (00:31:37)

20. In general, would you say the changing investor environment is a setback for food tech industry? (00:33:24)

21. Do you already know your go-to market strategy? (00:37:51)